Chapter 190

The Back-Alley Mage’s Return – Chapter 190

Chenbi sprinted forward, desperate and breathless.

Whish—!

The colossal fist of Infernal tore through the atmosphere, forcing Chenbi to drop flat and press himself against the dirt.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As those massive legs stomped downward, he threw his body into a frantic roll, barely evading a crushing demise.

The moment he gained a fleeting second to draw breath, he didn’t waste it on air; instead, he muttered an incantation and channeled his internal energy.

Yet.

The sorcery Chenbi mustered was too weak. To put it more accurately, Infernal possessed such terrifying power that Chenbi’s mystic arts failed to leave a mark.

Crack-crack-crack!

Though his Spear of the Earth slammed directly into the monster’s sternum, the titan merely flinched for a split second.

Smash!

With a casual backhand, the beast pulverized the Spear of the Earth into dust, continuing its relentless march to stomp Chenbi into oblivion.

At this juncture.

Infernal resembled a mythical titan of old, whereas Chenbi was nothing but a helpless gnat struggling against fate.

The grandest magic Chenbi could conjure was, to Infernal, a minor nuisance.

Conversely, a lazy swing from Infernal’s arm represented an apocalyptic disaster to Chenbi.

It was a grim, hopeless dilemma—one capable of shattering the resolve of any ordinary sorcerer and breaking their spirit entirely.

Particularly for Chenbi, who was acutely aware that he had recently broken through “a certain threshold,” this reality should have driven him into a deeper abyss of despair.

Yet.

“Heff, haaa……!”

Chenbi kept running.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

“……!”

When cornered, he threw himself to the earth.

Even realizing the futility of his actions, and even as crimson blood erupted from his lips, he relentlessly spun his arcane circles.

The unyielding, desperate tenacity of an untalented practitioner.

However, as previously noted, the truth of the world was unforgiving.

He had scaled a “threshold” through sheer grit, but Chenbi was no prodigy—he had simply grasped an epiphany that “blessed geniuses” utilized as easily as taking a breath.

……A mere five minutes?

Outlasting the beast for five minutes?

It wasn’t a vast stretch of time.

Had it been Aster or Demian, they likely would have endured the duration without breaking a sweat.

But Chenbi was different.

His solitary weapon of true value was the Spear of the Earth, and even invoking that single spell drained his shallow reserves of magical energy to the dregs.

On top of that, attempting to manifest the full strength of the Spear of the Earth with a physical frame already pushed past its absolute limit?

For Chenbi, it was an impossible feat.

Nevertheless, Chenbi refused to yield.

Nor did he surrender to hopelessness.

Though a stretch of time that others could survive with ease demanded that he wager his very soul to withstand…….

‘……No matter what happens.’

He hardened his resolve.

Yet, as fate dictates, calamity strikes without warning.

The initial disaster to strike Chenbi was the total collapse of his physical form.

Flop.

‘……What?’

All at once, the strength drained completely from his legs, as if his muscles had simply detached. Terror gripped Chenbi. This was wrong. Why—why won’t they respond to his will?

……With roughly sixty seconds remaining until Demian finished gathering his magic.

Whoosh—!

Chenbi collapsed onto the dirt, his gaze locked onto the oncoming fist that Infernal was driving straight toward his position. That barbaric fist, hurtling forward draped in banners of raging fire, possessed an eerie, terrifying beauty.

In that fleeting instant, a thought crossed Chenbi’s mind:

A mediocre talent is destined to remain a mediocre talent.

It might flash with brilliant light for a passing second, but when placed beside the inferno of a true prodigy, such a spark is utterly pathetic.

Therefore…….

‘……I wish I could have blazed just a bit brighter.’

A soft, melancholic regret drifted through his consciousness.

Yet, just like disaster, salvation can also manifest without warning.

Boom!

A resonant, heavy impact echoed in his ears, signaling a change.

Whoosh!

A gentle, cooling breeze enveloped his frame, bringing safety.

Furthermore……

Right before Infernal’s fist could grind him into pulp,

as the rushing wind swept him upward into someone’s grasp, Chenbi realized who was cradling him the moment he looked at the elderly master of spirits.

“Are you holding together?”

“……Elder Myseolne.”

He had offered himself up.

Myseolne, having channeled ancient spirit energy directly into his physical vessel, cast a grim look toward Demian. Demian was locked in a state of profound meditation, executing a spell far beyond standard sorcery.

“It appears…… retreating while carrying Demian is out of the question. Very well—what is our strategy?”

“Five minutes…… no, we just need one more minute.”

“A single minute.”

Myseolne whispered the words to himself, stepping out into the open while shielding Chenbi behind his back.

So the incantation requires one more minute to reach fruition.

Was Infernal studying him, evaluating this new challenger who had disrupted the fray? Myseolne calmly peered up at the looming, motionless form of Infernal.

Could he hold out for sixty seconds against such an entity?

‘It will be a razor-thin margin.’

Against virtually any foe, Myseolne harbored absolute certainty that he would not lose ground.

But Infernal was an anomaly.

That oppressive, unnatural heat—though the true hazard wasn’t the physical temperature itself. Instead……

Sizzle, crackle—

His spirit energy began to unravel merely from standing in its presence. He had anticipated a poor matchup, but the elemental clashing was atrocious.

‘I had heard whispers of a blaze capable of consuming spirits, but I never anticipated the reality would be this severe.’

Calculating the rate at which his spirit energy was evaporating second by second, Myseolne gauged the remaining essence required to escape once the minute concluded—and strode forward.

That was the precise moment Infernal lunged.

Thud, thud.

Myseolne observed the approaching mountain of muscle and gave a weary shake of his head.

“This old soul…… is truly being pushed to his limits in his winter years. Exactly sixty seconds. I shall restrain it. The moment time is up, you sprint away—no matter the cost.”

“……Understood. I will.”

Myseolne gave a firm nod at Chenbi’s confirmation and unleashed his inner reservoir of spirit energy.

Perceiving that this newcomer was no trivial opponent, Infernal proceeded with uncharacteristic caution this time.

However, that hesitant approach granted Myseolne the precious seconds he required.

“In times past…… this old man was hailed as the spirit summoner of the North Wind, yet it is a misconception that my dominion is confined solely to the gale.”

His voice was a low murmur. The very atmosphere began to vibrate.

Spirit energy radiating from Myseolne expanded, blanketing the battlefield.

Naturally, that ethereal energy flickered and waned against Infernal’s overwhelming heat, but Myseolne paid it no mind—leaving only a threadbare defense to protect himself, he unleashed the entirety of his power.

And within that heavy, suffocating pressure—

Chenbi could feel a monumental shift occurring.

Then, Myseolne’s voice rang out once more.

“My dominion extends over the wind, the earth, and the tides. Once, a spirit of flame walked beside me as well, but our covenant has long since dissolved. Hence, compared to the zenith of my youth, I am diminished, and yet…….”

Snap!

A sharp, resonant sound sliced through the chamber.

Myseolne, having signaled the invocation with a simple flick of his fingers, allowed a soft smile to grace his lips.

“With this much, I can still boldly claim that I command ‘nature’ itself.”

The transformation manifested instantaneously.

Whirl—

A fierce vortex of wind swept across the terrain. The ground groaned and buckled as if answering a master’s call. High above, beneath the stone ceiling, heavy storm clouds materialized, and a sudden downpour began to pelt the earth.

Confronting these environmental shifts, Infernal puffed out its massive chest and forced its flames to erupt higher, seeking to reduce every shred of irritating spirit energy to ash.

And the retaliation proved potent.

Sizzle, pop!

Under that agonizing, scorching aura, the elemental domains Myseolne had summoned began to fracture and tremble.

The howling vortex lost its momentum and dissolved into nothing.

The trembling earth fell quiet, smoothing over like a calm sea.

The dark rain clouds shattered into fragments, exposing the stone ceiling once more.

Yet.

“We are not finished.”

The instant those words left his lips—

Boom—!

Suddenly, an immense atmospheric weight plummeted downward.

“……!”

Involuntarily, Chenbi’s jaw dropped in sheer astonishment.

The swirling gales, the fractured earth, the moisture suspended in the air……

As if guided by a singular, collective consciousness, they converged violently to shackle Infernal.

The winds dispersed Infernal’s hellfire across the chamber.

The rising soil lunged upward, wrapping around the titan’s limbs like heavy chains.

The liquid droplets coalesced into a torrent, smothering the hellfire coating its hide and choking out the light.

An awe-inspiring spectacle of high sorcery.

As Chenbi watched the display, completely mesmerized—

“Cough.”

“……Elder Myseolne!”

“I am… alright.”

Myseolne waved off Chenbi’s panicked approach, refocusing his dwindling concentration.

With a vessel weathered by age, replicating the absolute peak of his youth was an impossibility. Yet in this critical juncture, Myseolne channeled every fiber of his being to keep Infernal pinned down.

How many agonising heartbeats ticked away in that stalemate?

Creeeak, creeeak, creeeak.

An unnatural, metallic sound echoed from nearby.

Chenbi tore his eyes away from the grand spectacle and locked his gaze onto Demian.

Demian’s eyelids remained tightly shut. His incantation flowed continuously without a single stumble. His features were drenched—an immense volume of perspiration pouring down his skin—but what truly arrested Chenbi’s focus was the phenomenon hovering directly above him.

Suspended in the air over Demian’s head was……

a solitary armament.

A titanic lance forged entirely from pristine, absolute ice.

The source of inspiration behind this creation required no explanation.

The Spear of the Earth.

And yet…… it was entirely distinct.

Crack, crack.

The lance, stretching nearly four meters in length, began to compress with an eerie screech. Its fundamental structure held fast…… but its physical volume diminished, condensing into an increasingly dense, sub-zero glacier.

Witnessing that evolution, Chenbi felt the staggering gulf between them slam into him once more.

‘……Ah. So this is what it means.’

True genius.

Merely by observing a concept, he grasped its fundamental reality—and melded it with his existing pool of arcane knowledge to forge an entirely new outcome.

Even formulas that an ordinary practitioner would have to labor over for a lifetime yielded an immediate solution the precise moment they entered his field of vision.

Naturally, as Chenbi surmised, the underlying process for Demian was far from trivial.

For the sake of this solitary gamble, Demian had finally designated the elemental affinity of his inner core—a choice he had delayed indefinitely—selecting Ice (氷)—

And by making that choice, he had permanently shattered the boundless potential he once held across all other elemental paths.

However.

The entirety of that sacrificed potential was now compressed into a single, supreme element.

“……It is finished.”

The moment Demian ceased his chanting and snapped his eyes open,

the weapon’s point had been reduced to a length of roughly one meter.

A pristine, flawless arrowhead of pure glacier aimed squarely at the avatar of hellfire.

Then—

Flash!

It tore through the air…… no, it launched forward while projecting an aura of absolute zero, freezing the very atmosphere in its trajectory—a javelin of unrelenting frost.

The moment that frozen tip impaled Infernal’s chest—

Groan……!

Infernal locked up, freezing solid mid-stride.

Chenbi watched the scene unfold like a man under a spell.

Flicker, flicker!

Infernal’s blinding fires wavered weakly. Myseolne’s elemental shackles had already dissolved into mist, but…… the beast remained entirely motionless.

Then……

Crash!

Infernal—an entity that appeared utterly invincible—toppled backward onto the stone.

“It is…… over.”

Involuntarily, Chenbi released a shaky breath of profound awe. Witnessing that impossible triumph, even Myseolne stood frozen in disbelief for a brief moment.

But only for a moment.

“Demian!”

Chenbi cried out as he watched Demian slide toward the ground. He desperately wished to sprint forward and break his fall, but his muscles refused to obey.

That was when Myseolne stepped in.

“I shall collect him—”

Right then.

Flutter-flutter-flutter—!

A sound resembling a snapping pennant echoed through the chamber.

No—it wasn’t a pennant at all.

When Chenbi shifted his gaze toward the source, he murmured in sheer bewilderment.

“It wasn’t…… defeated?”

Unlike the paralyzed Chenbi, however, Myseolne’s tactical instincts were instantaneous.

“We must retreat immediately.”

But—

Roaaaaaaar—

BOOM……!

“Kh—!”

Infernal erupted in a cataclysm of feral, raging flames. Caught in the center of that oppressive, lethal heat, Myseolne let out a painful groan.

Fortunately, making a split-second evaluation, he succeeded in grabbing Chenbi—while simultaneously shielding Demian from the blast.

Moving with a velocity that bordered on instantaneous teleportation, Myseolne cast out his remaining spirit energy to form a barrier against the encroaching inferno.

‘This is disastrous.’

This turn of events had caught him entirely off guard.

With the pathetic remnants of spirit energy left in his reservoir, merely insulating them from the immediate flames pushed him to his limits. Furthermore, he possessed very little stamina left to sustain the shield.

‘How do we……?’

As Myseolne desperately searched for an escape route—

In that exact moment, Chenbi dragged himself forward.

“I…… I will buy us time somehow.”

“What are you saying—?”

“If it is only for a fleeting heartbeat, I believe I can intercept it. Just a moment—just, just a single second.”

Even if it amounted to nothing more than a fraction of a second, given what Chenbi had witnessed of Myseolne’s speed just moments prior, the elder would easily exploit that window.

“It is out of the question. With your current cultivation—”

“No. I can make it happen. We have no other choice.”

“It would be wiser if you—”

Myseolne abruptly choked back his own argument.

Chenbi offered a weary smile, as if conveying: you understand the reality of the situation perfectly, so why object?

“My limbs refuse to stir. It seems I have reached my limit.”

Staring down at Chenbi, Myseolne understood.

In this precise moment, Chenbi fully intended to ignite the final embers of his life force. He purposed to sacrifice his entire vitality to fuel a solitary, final incantation.

Under normal circumstances, such an act was an impossibility.

But…… Chenbi, having already pushed past his limits once today, believed he could manifest the miracle.

Dragging his broken body across the stone, Chenbi quieted his racing heart.

‘Still, it was an enjoyable journey.’

Prior to descending into these subterranean vaults, the breathtaking vista they had all observed together drifted across his memory. The shimmering, radiant mana stones. Past that brilliant illumination, schools of exotic fish swimming peacefully through the deep.

He had wondered back then if he might one day accumulate a fortune of glowing stones that precious.

“Elder Myseolne, drowsiness is overtaking me. Take him and go, quickly.”

“How can you expect me to—”

“I already shared my thoughts, did I not?”

……In the end, everyone meets their demise.

Thus Chenbi, summoning the absolute dregs of his existence, structured the final spell that would consume his life—

To preserve a solitary existence that possessed far greater worth than a mountain of glowing stones.

Right then.

BANG!

A massive detonation shattered the air from a distance. Had a reinforced wall collapsed? Just as that thought formed, a presence sliced through the swirling vortex of fire and dropped directly into the center of Myseolne’s defensive barrier.

And—

Whoosh……!

An absolute, terrifying shockwave rippled outward, snuffing out the raging fires in a single heartbeat.

The entire event unfolded before a single breath could be drawn to completion.

As Chenbi sat frozen, completely dumbfounded by the abrupt inversion of reality—

Within his field of vision, he looked upon a silhouette that could scarcely be described as imposing.

Locks of hair so drab and lifeless they seemed not only melancholic, but entirely cursed with misfortune—a dull, slate gray.

A bizarre sensation of familiarity caused Chenbi’s pupils to quiver slightly……

And the voice that rang out was, precisely as anticipated, agonizingly recognizable.

“Man, this really is a textbook cliché. Isn’t it?”